


Not a moment too soon

by lloydsglasses



Series: Series 10 Fics and Drabbles [11]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Gender/Sexuality, Friendship, Gen, Gender Issues, In that the entire fic is inspired by yesterday's news, Queer Themes, Sort of involves the Thirteenth Doctor, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 13:59:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11533698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lloydsglasses/pseuds/lloydsglasses
Summary: He’s midway through his well-practiced ‘I am the man who stops the monsters’ monologue when he realises there's something about the words that doesn’t quite ring true like it used to.He files it away for later – introspection tends to be more effective when there aren’t any Daleks present.





	Not a moment too soon

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by yesterday’s news and my undying love of gender-variant characters. <3
> 
> Title comes from [this fabulous tweet.](https://twitter.com/SawbonesHex/status/886613052447129601)

He’s midway through his well-practiced ‘I am the man who stops the monsters’ monologue when he realises there’s something about the words that doesn’t quite ring true like it used to.

He files it away for later – introspection tends to be more effective when there aren’t any Daleks present.

\--

It’s hard to stop noticing things, after that.

His voice is too deep (ironic really, because when he first regenerated into this body that was one of the few things he _actually liked_ ) and stubble prickles at his palms whenever he rubs them over his cheeks, no matter how often he shaves. He dresses himself in front of his mirror, attack eyebrows casting angry shadows across his face when he realises the reflection looks all wrong.

\--

“What was it like when you regenerated?” he asks, fiddling with one of his coat buttons while Missy examines the TARDIS’s engines. “Was there any build-up to it?”

“You know how regeneration works as well as I do,” Missy replies absently.

“No, I mean… I mean the Timelady thing.”

There’s a beat of silence. “Oh, I see. Well I’m afraid I don’t really remember. It’s all a bit hazy.”

“Right,” he says, frowning down at his shoes. After a few moments he feels something nudge gently against his arm, and he looks up to see Missy leaning casually against the railing next to him.

“Feeling a little feminine?” she asks, not unkindly.

“Maybe. I think so.”

“Would you like to talk about it?”

The Doctor considers this. “No, thank you. Not yet.”

Missy gives him a small smile, nudging his arm again before wandering back towards the engines.

“You know,” she says, after an extended silence. “You don’t need to regenerate to see if it works. You can be a ‘she’ even if you have all the masculine bits.”

“D’you think so?”

She throws a chastising look over her shoulder at him. “You’ve been spending far too much time around humans, dear.”

\--

She decides to try it out, just in the privacy of her own head.

\--

She thinks about regeneration in the privacy of her own head, too.

The thing is, regenerating brings lots of different changes and not all of them are always welcome. The Doctor thinks she’d quite like a different body; she’s far less enthusiastic about the idea of becoming someone else.

\--

“Would you please stop calling me ‘old man?’” she snaps, struggling irritably with the lock on their cell door. The Doctor isn’t entirely sure how they ended up in here, but they’ve been stuck for an hour already and she isn’t any closer to getting them out.

Bill blinks at her in surprise. “Erm. Yeah, okay.”

An awkward silence falls between them as the Doctor continues to tamper with the lock.

“Sorry,” Bill says after a little while, noticeably uncomfortable. “I just figured two-thousand years is pretty old, by human standards. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

The Doctor sighs, giving up on the cell door for the moment and sliding down to sit beside her. “It’s not the ‘old’ part that bothers me.”

Bill blinks again. “Oh. Oh right.”

The Doctor chews her fingernail, wondering if this is going to be a problem. It sometimes can be, for humans.

“So, this is like what you were saying the other day, yeah?” Bill asks tentatively. “About gender being a bit flexible for your lot?”

Seems like it might not be a problem after all. “Yes. Sort of.”

Bill nods. “Okay. Cool.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah,” says Bill, smiling brightly.

\--

It doesn’t take much rummaging to find what she’s looking for in the TARDIS wardrobe.

“Thanks, old girl,” she murmurs, brushing her hand affectionately against the nearest wall. The ship hums gently in response.

She tries it on, stuffing each side with a few socks and buttoning her shirt over it once everything seems to look even. In the mirror, the shirt curves around her chest rather than lying flat.

She decides that she likes it.

\--

By the time she’s stranded on a colony ship with an army of cybermen waiting to attack, the Doctor has made up her mind.

“Is the future going to be all girl?” scoffs the Master.

“We can only hope.”

Of course, by this point she doesn’t need to.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a job interview tomorrow and I should be asleep but this idea crept up on me and then wouldn’t leave me alone I regret nothing


End file.
